From BBC UK yesterday: The health secretary has invited the Welsh and Scottish governments to discuss how best to tackle NHS waiting lists, as millions wait for hospital treatment across the UK. Steve Barclay accused them of having worse delays than England in some cases – but they disputed the figures. Mr Barclay also said he was open to Scottish and Welsh patients being treated in England. The government said under Labour in Wales more than 73,000 people have been waiting at least 77 weeks for treatment, and under the SNP in Scotland more than 21,600 people have been waiting … Continue reading Stephen Barclay’s advice is ‘just don’t have waiting time targets’ as Scotland beats his cancer waiting times by 30%

This requires little effort. England above, Scotland below: The flows and levels in Scotland’s water environment are currently at good or better condition in 90% of rivers, lochs and groundwaters. This is up from 88% when we published the second RBMPs. https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/water/scotland-s-freshwater/#:~:text=The%20flows%20and%20levels%20in,we%20published%20the%20second%20RBMPs. Continue reading England’s water NINE times more likely to contain sewage

‘Correlation is not causation‘, I’m going to say, among some other things but first from the Herald today: Another piece of bottom-feeding for the Herald’s Health Correspondent, Helen McArdle, fed by the Conservative Shadowy Health Secretary Sandesh Gulhane. McArdle is not entirely devoid of principle, just mostly, and her struggling wee conscience lets this chink of light in: So, A&E waiting times are longer and more folk are dying in A&E but though those two things seem intuitively to be meaningfully connected, no one can say, credibly, that more are dying in A&E because more are waiting longer there. As … Continue reading A&E deaths – ambulance chasers overtake ambulance on dual carriageway to collide with old folk crossing road

14.52 times more, per head of population, waiting longer than 18 weeks in England than in Scotland. Evidence below The ultimate humiliation for the Labour Party in the UK as it completely messes up NHS Wales, so bad that an English Tory Health Secretary offers top help them out: The UK government has said it wants to work with the Welsh government to help reduce NHS waiting times. UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay has invited Welsh and Scottish ministers to discuss how to “get patients seen more quickly”. He said he would be “open to requests” for Welsh and Scottish patients who … Continue reading Longer waiting times and humiliation – what Labour offers the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West

In the Telegraph yesterday: Asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “You would not accept the kind of deal that your Scottish members are thinking of accepting?”, Mr Laurenson said the union would not. He said: “No, because the governments are very different. So the Scottish Government, there’s a basis to work forwards and have a relationship and a working relationship to negotiate in the future. The Government that we have today are hell bent on using the rigged, independent pay review bodies.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/11/bma-junior-doctors-dr-rob-laurenson-scottish-government/ As Health Secretary and then as First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf has been prepared to … Continue reading Further evidence of the best health secretary and best leader getting on with the day job to protect the people

In the Herald today: Would the Herald rather we saw this in Scotland? More than 20,000 families have been kicked out of their homes since the Tories promised to ban no-fault evictions. Official figures published today reveal 21,332 households have been forced out of their homes by bailiffs since 2019. The Conservative party pledged to scrap Section 21 evictions in its manifesto. But the number of households being kicked out of their homes because of no-fault evictions increased by 41% in the last year in England. Between April and June 2023, 2,228 households were forced out due to the evictions, up from … Continue reading Should that read – ‘SNP Government protect Glasgow from rip-off rents?’

From the Guardian today: Members of the biggest rail workers’ union are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said 20,000 of its members from 14 train operators would walk out on 26 August and 2 September, both Saturdays. The 14 train operating companies affected by the new strikes are: Avanti West Coast. Chiltern Railways. Cross Country Trains. c2c. East Midlands Railway. Greater Anglia. Great Western Railway. GTR (including Gatwick Express). LNER. Northern Trains. South Eastern. South Western Railway. TransPennine Express. West Midlands Trains. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/11/rmt-announces-saturday-rail-strikes-in-august-and-september See that? No … Continue reading Once more, Scotland’s media won’t tell your gran the trains will be ON here

Did you think for even a second or two that headline might refer to Scotland. BBC Wales today: There is “no question” the public will feel the impact of cuts on the NHS in Wales, the country’s [Labour] health minister has warned. Eluned Morgan [Labour] said health boards are going to find it “very difficult” to make the savings they need to. The Welsh government has told them they need to find the savings to counter overspending. https://wordpress.com/post/talkingupscotlandtwo.com/60415 There is not a word from His Majesty’s opposition (Conservative) in the BBC Wales report. Imagine, just imagine, that was in Scotland? … Continue reading Shadow Health Secretary accepts Health Secretary’s right to pass the buck for complete failure

My post on the exam results of the school in which the Rutherglen and Hamilton West, UK Labour candidate works has drawn the predictable response from Labour and their media chums. I’m in the gutter now but it’s not lonely here. Notably, I seem to be the only one not sniffing around noisily. Three things quickly. I’m an SNP member and supporter but the SNP has no responsibility for what I post any more than Labour is responsible for what appears in the Daily Record. Second, I clearly did not attack the school pupils but rather the school’s failure to … Continue reading Why can Labour weaponize exam results?

I should be honoured I suppose as the Herald’s Tom Gordon accuses Clair Haughey MSP of sharing my post pointing out the failure of the Modern Studies department in which the Labour candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West works. According to Jackie Baillie: Hmmn. The attack was actually on behalf of the schoolchildren, and on the teachers including the UK Labour candidate, who seem to have let them down badly based on the 2023 exam results. The UK Labour candidate for Rutherglen and Hamilton West seems to have spent more time running the streets of Glasgow and on getting … Continue reading Scottish Labour accused of putting their interests ahead of school pupils